President Trump recently announced plans to push for an infrastructure development bill, saying that it will be his next major push following the tax reform legislation that he signed into law earlier this month. The nuclear energy industry is looking to capitalize on this opportunity and work to simplify regulations that will help power plant and grid development. John Kotek, vice president for policy at the Nuclear Energy Institute stated that “We certainly think it can and should help nuclear…If we are going to take steps to invest in infrastructure, electricity and nuclear in particular should be on the agenda.” White House officials said that the infrastructure proposal will be unveiled in mid-January, and will include $200 billion for infrastructure spending over the next ten years.

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions has developed a suspended pan-tilt camera that will be attached to a telescopic guiding pipe in order to investigate the inside of the primary containment vessel of unit 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan. The International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning also helped to design the camera, which will allow for further exploration of the damaged unit 2 at Fukushima. Goro Yanase, general manager of Toshiba’s Energy Systems & Solutions stated that “working with IRID, we have succeeded in developing a small device with high-level radiation resistance, and by deploying it we expect to get more information for advancing decommissioning.”

Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) announced another delay in the schedule for completing the Rokkasho reprocessing plant and also the J-MOX mixed-oxide fuel fabrication plant. Additional regulatory requirements are the cause to the delay, which is expected to be three years. The JNFL now expects the pant to be completed in the first half of the 2021 fiscal year rather than the first-half of 2018. The delay will be used to enhance safety measures at the plant.